Wind power is considered one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy sources presently available, and wind turbines have gained increased attention in this regard. A modern wind turbine typically includes a tower, a nacelle mounted on the tower, a generator positioned in the nacelle, and one or more rotor blades. The one or more rotor blades convert kinetic energy of wind into mechanical energy using known airfoil principles. A drivetrain transmits the mechanical energy from the rotor blades to the generator. The generator then converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy that may be supplied to a utility grid.
Each rotor blade generally couples to a hub connected to the drivetrain. In particular, each rotor blade includes a root portion thereof that couples to the hub via suitable fasteners. The rotor blades are typically formed from a composite material, such as a glass fiber reinforced polymer. In this respect, metallic inserts may be placed into the root portions to receive the fasteners.
The inserts must be located within the root portion in particular positions and within particular tolerances to allow the rotor blade to couple to the hub. Conventional methods of forming the root portions of the rotor blades are time consuming and require complex tooling and highly skilled operators to position the inserts in the root portions within the necessary tolerances. In this respect, conventional methods result in a relatively high cost to produce the root portions of the rotor blades.
Accordingly, improved wind turbines, and, in particular, improved methods for forming the root portions of wind turbine rotor blades, are desired in the art. Specifically, methods that do not require the use of complex tooling and highly skilled operators and that are relatively less expensive to manufacture would be advantageous.